The Day That Started It All
by mysteryteenagelover
Summary: We're Derek and Addison!" Or are they? When it comes down to it - did they make a mistake? For all Grey's Anatomy and Addek fans. Oneshot. Please, R and R, much appreciated. Dedicated to Ella and Coppe - the world's best redheads.


Derek slammed the door. Loudly. Addison jumped, spilling her full cup of coffee over the white coat which Mark had just had dry-cleaned for her.

'We need to talk, Addison. About us.'

'There is no us,' Addison commented, furiously examining the damage to her clothing.

'Sorry,' Derek amended, taking a tea-towel from the rack near the coffee machine and wetting it. He handed it to her, and she tied to erase the stains. Self-consciously, she looked up and saw Derek watching her. Exasperated, she ripped her arms out of the coat and threw it across the chair behind her.

'What do you want, Derek?'

'Well, you, but – '

''Scuse?' Addison was positive she had heard wrong. They were _divorced_, they…

'I want to talk to you,' Derek backtracked. 'Do you ever think we made a mistake? Not trying harder?'

'We tried for ten years, we – '

'No, we didn't. We didn't have to _try_, those first ten years. Last year, we tried.'

'And you left me for _Meredith_.' Addison winced as the edges of that raw wound were pulled back to the surface. After everything she had done to forget about it, to move on, here he was, spilling her coffee and dredging up her feelings again. She couldn't take it. Derek took a step towards her, and it was all she could do to keep her hands from slapping him.

'Remember what you said to me? That day, by the elevator? '_Even though I may be an adulterous bitch, I _– '

' – _Still could be the love you your life_,' finished Addison, breathing out slowly, 'Yes.'

'I made a mistake, Addison. You _are_ the love of my life. You always will be.'

'Then _why_ did you leave me?' Derek shrugged.

'I'm a man. I'm not made of stone. I mistook love for lust. Like you and Mark, I believe.'

'Mark is a man-whore.'

'Ok, then … so,' Derek took a moment to step towards her, and then raised a hand to touch her face, to push a lock of auburn hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear.

'Are you lost?' he whispered in her ear.

'What?' Addison closed her eyes, revelling in the familiar sensation of his breath touching her neck, sweeping across her skin.

'The exit is just there …'Derek murmured, pulling her to him by the waist, hands resting warmly above her hips. And then Addison remembered.

"Are you lost?'

'I – I'm not sure…' a stunningly attractive twenty-something girl answered, swivelling from side to side as she spoke, squinting into the sun and the handsome stranger that stood before her.

'The exit is just over there,' the man added helpfully as the girl continued to shield her eyes against the glare, glancing around.

'No … I just got here, I'm trying to find a coffee place … meeting someone there,' she added unnecessarily, glancing at her watch, 'Half an hour ago,' she added, throwing her hands pointlessly to her sides.

'There is one just over there,' the man told her, helpfully.

'Thanks, thank you for all your help,' the girl offered, looking at him full in the face for the first time, and noticing that he was extremely attractive. She smiled.

'Addison.' She held out a hand.

'Derek.' The two of them shook hands, and held for just a second too long. Derek noticed that the sun glinted off her auburn hair beautifully in the bright New York summer day. He offered her his arm, and she took it, smiling gratefully again. The two of them walked over to the coffee spot, and when Addison couldn't find her date, Derek bought her a coffee, and the two of them sat down together.

'No, I just got here,' Addison murmured into Derek's neck as he pulled her into a warm hug.

'But still!' Addison remembered, pushing him away from her with her hands, 'You left me! For Meredith!'

'You slept with Mark! While we were still married!'

'I've told you a hundred times – I'm sorry about that! But you never forgave me. Don't you remember?'

'Yes, I do. But I forgive you now.' Derek stopped and wiped his forehead in frustration. 'And I slept with Meredith. Don't you see, Addison? You're the love of my life,' he repeated. Addison looked down, sighing, until she found his fingers under her chin, gently lifting her face to his.

'We're the same, Derek.'

He nodded, and then reached out his other hand.

'Please, Addison? Forgive me? Forgive me the way I forgave you?'

Addison nodded, wiping away an unexpected tear with her fingers.

'We're … we're Addison and Derek.'

'We are.' Derek agreed with her, smiling down. He took her face very gently in his hands, and pressed his lips to hers. And in that kiss, everything came back to them, sweet and bitter. The first meeting in Central Park, and sensation of their hands sliding together. The kiss outside the trailer the day Addison had traced him to Seattle, the hot sex in the shower after that long day at work. Their wedding night, the way they had held hands on their honeymoon. The hug outside the hospital when Derek thought Addison was going to leave forever. The way she looked at him when he held the divorce papers, hand shaking. The way her hands had pressed against the glass when he had kicked her out, and the way her hair had dripped down over her face when he had let her back in.

And the way her hands stroked his cheeks, now, and he gripped her waist as they kissed, the white coat still draped over the chair behind them.


End file.
